Highland company goes extra mile to raise awareness of mental health charity Mikeysline
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A HIGHLAND company is raising awareness of the mental health charity Mikeysline on its vehicles after two young apprentices lost a friend to suicide during the summer.
Boiler and Valve has added the Mikeysline logo and text number where people can seek help to its five vans.
It is also donating £200 per vehicle in what it intends to be an annual pledge to the charity.
Managing director Andrew Macdonald is urging other companies to do the same.
He said the firm, in Tom Semple Road, had taken the step after a friend of apprentices Duncan Robertson and Cameron Donnachie tragically took his own life.
Mr Macdonald was also aware there had been other similar tragic incidents in the community in recent years.
"It is a very small team here and we all felt it," he said.
"As I became more aware of the issues around suicide in young men, I wanted to show a bit of support and suggested this.
"We are just a business which cares about people and if we can get this issue out there a bit more, I would hope it would encourage other businesses to do the same."
The company is donating £1000 this year to Mikeysline but hopes to pledge more in the future if its fleet increases.
"To have something like Mikeysline which you can text and get help is so invaluable," Mr Macdonald said.
Mikeysline was launched in December 2015 following the deaths of two young Highland men, Michael 'Mikey' Williamson and Martin Shaw, who died within days of each other.
It provides a hotline service for people experiencing thoughts of depression, anxiety, worry or stress.
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